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NEWS
More local production gives Iveco a boost
Two Stralis models will boost local production at Iveco’s Dandenong facilityThe announcement last year that Iveco would increase the range of models manufactured at its Dandenong facility was welcomed by customers and the broader commercial vehicle industry.
From the first quarter of 2018 Iveco’s Stralis ATi began local assembly, changing its model nomenclature to ‘AT’, and dropping the ‘i’ which signified the truck’s previous import status.
In welcome news for the broader local manufacturing industry, selected components including mirrors, wheel angles, trailer connections, batteries, wheels and liquids are now all sourced locally.
But in the longer term there’s even more good news. Iveco says that the addition of a second Stralis model to the local manufacturing mix will provide greater economies of scale, increased commonality of parts and a strong business case to further increase the scope of local manufacturing works.
As a result, in the future Iveco’s Australian workers will have greater involvement in the assembly process of these models.
The addition of the Stralis AT to the local production mix has also seen the Dandenong facility undergo investment in tooling and software to calibrate the AT’s adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning systems, and in doing so introduced new technology to the site that could also be used for other models in the future.
Australian buyers will enjoy several benefits from the local production of AT models including greatly reduced lead times from vehicle order to delivery, and the ability to customise to order by adding factory-fitted special options and local accessories.
Iveco’s local engineers are also heavily involved in the installation of new Euro 6 Cursor engines for both the AT and AS-L variants.
The Australian engineering team is now continuing its real market testing on a selection of these engines. For many months, a number of vehicles have been amassing hundreds of thousands of validation, compliance and general testing kilometres in real-world fleet conditions prior to their introduction to the production line.
During the evaluation phase, the vehicles will cover a minimum of 300,000 kilometres each, with performance data being downloaded and analysed on a weekly basis. The trucks’ fluids are also being sampled every 25,000 kilometres.
The local development and validation is being undertaken in conjunction with FPT (Fiat Powertrain), who have the ability to monitor the vehicle from the other side of the world with a telematics system.
Iveco Australia Marketing Manager, Darren Swenson, said the increase in local production and development highlighted the company’s commitment to Australian manufacturing, and was proof of the high importance in which this market was held by Iveco globally.
“Iveco is one of few truck brands that continue to manufacture here – this latest expansion in Australian-based production demonstrates the company’s commitment to having a strong local manufacturing presence,” Mr Swenson said.
“The expansion of local production not only reflects a strong belief from Iveco Australia that local manufacturing is sustainable, but the initiative is also strongly supported by Iveco’s parent company, CNH Industrial,” Mr Swenson said.
The Stralis AT and AS-L ranges join several other of Iveco’s locally-manufactured models including the ACCO – which has been built in Dandenong for over 40 years – and Delta and Metro bus chassis.
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Written byTrucksales Staff
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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